from the twisted minds of snm
Monday, 30 July 2007
Sunny, 22-27C slight breeze
Woke up to the keitai alarm and went back to sleep. It was clear out and looked like it would be good ride weather. I wasn’t hung-over from the Hoegaarten. Breakfast was coffee, milk and cereal, OJ and yogurt. I took the spikes off of the Sidi Dragon II’s and replaced them with the filler screws from my spare old SRS Sidis. This was going to be a long ride day, so I filled the reservoir to ¾ capacity. Continue reading ‘Whistler MTB – Day 4’
Sunday, 29 July 2007
AM – rainy, 20C
PM – sunny, 22-25C slight breeze
I awoke at 06:00 to my phone’s alarm. It was morning twilight and the sky was a clear eggshell blue. It was too early. I griped to myself that I had set the alarm too early and went back to sleep. At 08:00, I awoke again, this time to the sound of water dripping from the eaves of the roof onto the vinyl chairs on the terrace. The sky was no longer clear blue, but instead a uniform gray. I went back to drowsing until I heard noise out in the living room. We had missed IGA last night after dinner because of the late hour, so we didn’t have any breakfast. We did have the coffee that I brought, so that was a good perk-up while watching the Weather Channel. Breakfast was the “original breakfast†at The Beet Root. We had walked by the day before and considered it for dinner, but they are only open for breakfast and lunch. The original breakfast was 2 poached eggs, 4-strips of American bacon, potatoes, and toast with condiments for $9 CAD. Pretty good, but not particularly cheap. If it’s clear outside, sit on the terrace so the kitchen smells don’t ruin your clothes like if you sit inside. Continue reading ‘Whistler MTB – Day 3’
Saturday, 28 July 2007
Sunny, 20-24C slight breeze
The in-flight movie was “In the Land of Women†or something to that effect. Huh? What? I don’t know. I put on the MP3 player headphones and let the Sleeman put me to sleep. I awoke to the change in sounds as the plane began its descent onto YVR. There was a dull rusty glow at the horizon outside the right windows, while the nighttime sky was still indigo out the left. The cloud tops began to glow as crescents of burning orange, then the sky split at the horizon with the fire of sunrise. Even with the late start, favorable conditions got us into Vancouver actually a little early. The pilot put the plane down gently and evenly with no bounce. The runway was long enough for him to use only wheel brakes and not rip the morning silence with thrust reversers. Continue reading ‘Whistler MTB – Day 2’
Okay, I know it’s taken forever for me to finish writing up all of this to post, but I hope you enjoy reading it!Â
Friday, 27 July 2007
Cloudy, 30C+ still
AC 048 to YVR was supposed to roll out at 20:45, so I had a 4-hour window to get home from work, clean up, and head to the airport. 2-hours to get home and get to the airport 2-hours early? No problem. Jeff and Sara had beat me there. They were gateside when I was waiting in line to check in. I got ticketed, paid the $43 USD/$50 CAD bike case ransom, and headed for the gate. Continue reading ‘Whistler MTB – Day 1’
Stopped by Servco today to pick up a $40 fuel filter for the FJ80. While I was there,  I asked about the pricing for the gas struts for the liftgate and the bonnet. They are starting to get a little weak, but still have a little life left in them.  Bonnet struts were about $70 each, and the liftgate ones were about $125 each! WTF?! I guess I’ll be looking for 3rd party struts if the time comes to replace them – either that get a $2 broomstick.
On my way out, I wandered through the showroom to browse the new ’08 Toyotas. They had a Yaris S 3-door with all the packages plus some TRD parts going for $19.5K! WTF?! I think a ’08 Scion xD goes for below $16K bone-stock, and that already includes most of the stuff that the add-on Yaris packages include. Granted, that particular Yaris had an A/T to drive up the price, but still… Put the TRD wheels on the xD for $2K and you’d end up still saving money and get a 1.8-liter 1ZR-FE and a couple of extra doors to boot!
I was late to the Monday F/R because I was writing crap on some blog and had to stop by the gasoline store so I’d be able to get up St. Louis without running dry. The crew was sparse – only Ckucke, JT and me, but Pappy swung by the parking lot to make some conversation on his way home to an inconsolably crying child.
It was barely twilight when we got up to the top, but it was nice and cool. We geared up and rode up to the park. The weekend rains were all but dried out, so we dropped down through upper and lower dumps, then climbed up agave and did the normal trail out. Conditions were loose and dusty, especially in the open areas around the hammock-tree and the burnt-out area. Continue reading ‘Land of Salt and Torment’
On Tuesday, I put some new SPD cleats on the Northwave Ninja MTB shoes I bought off Ckucke. I needed a good set of backup shoes for the Sidi Dragon II’s, and the price was right.Â
On Friday, I put them on, cranked the Boa laces tight and went for a spin around the neighborhood. They clicked in fine with no interference from the sole on the pedal body. The float was without resistance, so there was no contact drag. They were stiff yet comfortable. The insides around the arches were a bit more built out, as they rubbed the crankarm if I allowed my heels to move inward while pedaling. A dual-Boa system like snowboard boots might have been nice so the forefoot and instep could be adjusted independently, but that might be overkill for a MTB shoe. The fit was firm and encompassing, but if I made the Boa as tight as I would prefer for the instep, the toes became a little on the tight side. Continue reading ‘Snap, Crackle, & Pop’
…or rather Black Sauce of the Sea?
Roy was curious about the “Black Curry” at Coco Ichiban-ya for weeks, so on Thursday, he was peer-pressured (by us) into trying it. I am not fond of ika-sumi stuff, so there’s no way I’d try it. The waitress indicated that it was on the salty side, and this was borne out. I’ll leave it up to you to judge the potential of the flavor by looking at Roy’s reaction to the taste…
So after taking off bits, I’ve finally put back new bits. Most of it goes pretty smoothly. The generic hydraulic hose I got for p/s return hose is too small, but the old one looks ok so I reuse it. About ready to run again! But before it get’s too late in the evening, I decide to bust out the random orbit polisher.
Monday, weather was crystal clear, this night freeride was just Ckucky, Scat and me. Now by the time we got loaded up and headed up the hill, the light was getting low. Scat was connecting with his inner and outer child riding in the back seat watching a DVD on the screen in Ckucky’s van. By the time we got to the top and started unloading, the sun had set. Geared up, we set out for the park. Scat and I were rocking the newest light from NiteRider, the TriNewt three blazing LED element LiIon light. We’d been told that these are the brightest NiteRider lights and we were curious to see about that since Ckucky has the HID. Continue reading ‘Alien Abduction’